Chinese 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 yuan bills and Russian 1,000 and 100 ruble bills - Sputnik International, 1920
Economy
Get breaking stories and analysis on the global economy from Sputnik.

China Hits EU With Dairy Subsidy Probe After Bloc’s Cheesy Move to Tariff Chinese EVs

© AP Photo / Antonio CalanniIn this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese wheels are stored in Noceto, near Parma, Italy.
In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese wheels are stored in Noceto, near Parma, Italy.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.08.2024
Subscribe
The European Commission announced plans to slap import duties as high as 36% against Chinese electric vehicles on Tuesday after an investigation alleging that Beijing heavily subsidizes the industry to benefit exports. China’s Commerce Ministry and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers slammed the “unfair” and “protectionist” decision.
Beijing struck back against Brussels’ looming EV tariff hike on Wednesday, announcing an investigation into the bloc’s subsidies for dairy industry exports.
The probe covers EU fresh, curd, blue, and processed cheeses, milk and cream for the period between April 2023 and March 2024, with the exports worth some €1.7 billion (about $1.9 billion US).

The EU’s EV tariff threats previously prompted the Chinese government to launch probes into exports of brandy and pork products from the bloc (worth €1.6 billion, or $1.78 billion, and €3 billion or $3.34 billion, respectively), and to threaten an investigation into wine, worth €1.2 billion ($1.33 billion). European chemical products and medical devices have also been put under the microscope for suspected illegal subsidies.

France, a key lobbyist for the Chinese EV tariffs, faces the greatest potential losses in the brandy and wine probes, and would be hit again if Beijing moved to slap tariffs on dairy exports, which are worth about €190 million ($212 million).
But Ireland would potentially be hit hardest by any new Chinese restrictions, accounting for some €423 million ($472.3 million) of the EU dairy export total. Ireland has not been a particularly vocal or influential proponent of the Chinese EV tariff initiative, which calls for the bloc to apply additional tariffs of up to 36.3% on Chinese electric vehicles.
That includes a 17% tariff on BYD vehicles, a 19.3% duty on Geely cars, and a 36.3% tariff for SAIC vehicles. Tesla Motors faces a smaller, 9% tariff on its Chinese-built vehicles, having cooperating with the EU’s investigation and been determined to receive fewer subsidies.
A man talks on his phone near an electric car from Chinese automaker HiPhi at a showroom in Beijing, Thursday, April 13, 2023. Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars and other technology. - Sputnik International, 1920, 20.08.2024
World
Trade War Around the Corner: EU Cuts Tariffs on Chinese EVs by Just 1% Amid Industry Warnings

All 20 categories of subsidies being investigated by China’s dairy probe fall under either the EU-level Common Agricultural Policy or individual nations’ programs, from young farmers’ allowances and subsidies, loan and insurance schemes to financial assistance for storage facilities.

An EU spokesperson said the bloc would follow the dairy probe “very closely” and make sure that it “fully complies with relevant WTO rules.”

Awakening Dragon's Wrath

China’s Chamber of Commerce to the EU expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the EV move on Tuesday, accusing the bloc of the “unfair use of trade tools to hinder free trade,” and warning that the decision would “weaken the resilience of the European electric vehicle industry” itself and “exacerbate trade tensions.”
Europe’s EV supply chains are heavily reliant on batteries made in China, and this dependence is expected to grow further over the coming three years, from about 30% now to about 50% by 2027. In addition to making Chinese-made vehicles much more expensive, the EU’s tariff move threatens to balloon the cost of EVs made in the EU in an escalating trade row.

The EU’s industry and agriculture have already been hit by dramatic increases in energy prices not seen since the 1970s thanks to the bloc’s politicized decision to try to weak itself off Russian oil and gas supplies, which have made almost all industrial goods, from nitrate fertilizer and chemicals to steel made by the bloc's massive steel plants, exorbitantly expensive to produce.

A view shows gas metering units at the Gazprom's Amur Gas Processing Plant near the town of Svobodny, Amur Region, Russia. The plant was launched on June 9, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 06.12.2023
World
EU 'Overpaid' €185 Bln for Gas Due to Russia Sanctions
EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell tried to disarm a potential trade war with Beijing Tuesday, saying that while “our political systems are different,” that “shouldn’t lead to a systemic and permanent rivalry. That’s not in our interest.”
Borrell also took a surprise shot across the Atlantic over the US’s trade policies, which he blamed for the rising trade tensions with China.
“When they take measures against China…they don’t ask us if it suits us or not. When they ban the import of Chinese cars, or place deterring tariffs, they don’t ask themselves where these Chinese cars that will not go to the US will go. Where will they go? To which other market can they go? Well of course, to the European market, and that causes a competitiveness problem for our industry,” Borrell said.
A man smokes inside a tent on skid row Friday, March 20, 2020, in Los Angeles. Auditors said Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.04.2024
Analysis
War, New Fiscal Policy Rules and Austerity to Turn EU Into US
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала